Guide to Interacting with the Monad Testnet for A Potential Airdrop

What Is Monad?

Monad is a Layer 1 blockchain founded by Eunice Girda, James Hon Saker, and Keone Hon in 2022 as a solution to common speed and scalability issues that blockchains struggle with. It is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine, giving developers the opportunity to import apps built for Ethereum without needing to make changes to the code. Meanwhile, users can enjoy a faster and cheaper experience while interacting with the same apps they use on Ethereum.

Key Takeaways

• Monad is a fully Ethereum Virtual Machine compatible Layer 1 blockchain that aims to address the common speed and scalability issues faced by most traditional blockchains. 

• It was founded in 2022 by Eunice Girda, James Hon Saker, and Keone Hon, and successfully raised $225 million in a funding round led by Paradigm in April 2024.

• Interested users can now interact with the Monad testnet to become more familiar with the platform while positioning themselves for a potential future token airdrop.

Scalability is a longstanding issue with blockchains that we know and use so often. Increasing performance – while attempting to maintain speed and security – brings along questions on how the consensus mechanism can handle more transactions as well as what executing and storing data would look like. 

Ethereum’s current execution limits are still constrained by inefficient storage access patterns, single-threaded execution, a limited execution budget, and concerns around state growth and its effects on future costs. Monad is addressing these limitations by introducing algorithmic improvements through its architecture with the aim of making performance improvements while maintaining decentralization. 

Introducing Monad

Monad is a decentralized Layer 1 (L1) blockchain that is compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and is designed to improve the performance and scalability issues commonly faced by blockchains. It is not an Ethereum Layer 2 solution like Polygon, Optimism, or Arbitrum. 

As a L1 blockchain, Monad offers 10,000 transactions per second (TPS), single-slot finality, low-hardware requirements, and full EVM bytecode compatibility. This means that the platform is able to support a high volume of users and offer more interactive experiences, on top of cheaper transaction costs. Being EVM compatible also means that developers can easily port in their applications built for Ethereum without needing to change any code. 

Monad claims to be 1,000x faster than Ethereum all while still giving users a smooth experience for app interaction. Since the platform is fully EVM compatible, many Ethereum applications like wallets or block explorers can be used to sign or view transactions. Monad also uses the same address space as Ethereum which means users can reuse their existing keys for many of their favorite applications. They can also enjoy gas fees that go as low as a fraction of a cent, or sub-cent. 

How Does Monad Work?

To create a platform with efficient and scalable performance, Monad incorporates parallel execution and superscalar pipelining to the EVM. Behind the scenes, parallel execution is a practice that utilizes multiple cores and threads to execute work in parallel but still maintain the ability to commit the results in original order. However, to users, the series of transactions stays the same and appears to be executed one after the other. 

At the same time, superscalar pipelining is used to create stages or batches of work and then execute those in parallel. Instead of letting one resource sit idle while another is in use, it allows for multiple resources to work on different stages of a task at the same time, resulting in a more efficient process. 

Monad also introduces further optimization through MonadBFT, Asynchronous Execution, and MonadDb. The first, MonadBFT, is a consensus mechanism that enables globally distributed nodes to agree on a single ordering of transactions. It operates with the assumption of partial synchrony. 

Asynchronous Execution allows Monad to continuously increase execution throughput by decoupling consensus from execution since it grows from occupying a fraction of block time to the full block time. MonadDb is a custom-built key-value database that stores authenticated blockchain data and is vital for Monad’s ability to maintain full Ethereum compatibility while delivering its promised high performance. 

The Team Behind Monad

Monad was founded in 2022 by Eunice Girda, James Hon Saker, and Keone Hon. Both Saker and Hon had previously worked at Jump Trading for eight years where they focused on building trading systems. After identifying a gap in the industry, they decided to team up with Girda to start working on Monad. 

On April 9, 2024, Monad Labs announced they had raised $225 million in a funding round led by Paradigm with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Electric Capital, Castle Island Ventures, GSR Ventures, and Greenoaks. Some angel investors include Luca Netz, Mert Mumtaz, Bryan Pellegrino, and more. This follows Monad Labs’ previous funding round led by Dragonfly Capital which raised $9 million in May 2022.

The Monad ecosystem is supported by the Monad Foundation, an independent organization that is dedicated to foster growth and adoption within the blockchain community. The Foundation will facilitate validator-led governance and community-led improvement proposals, provide documentation to developers, develop the ecosystem, and more. 

Interacting with Monad for A Potential Airdrop

The community can now interact with the Monad testnet to learn more about what the platform offers. Given the project’s growing popularity and potential for success, now would be an ideal time to get familiar with Monad! 

Do note that at the time of writing, the Monad team has not made any official announcements regarding a token launch. Therefore, following the steps below does not guarantee a future token airdrop allocation.

Step 1: Connect Wallet

First, go to https://testnet.monad.xyz/ where you will be prompted to add the Monad testnet to your preferred wallet. For whichever wallet you decide to use, open up the application or extension and proceed to Add Network. Then type in Monad testnet and enable it. In this guide, we will be using the Rabby wallet.

After that, check the box and Continue.

On the homepage, scroll down to the faucet.

Copy and paste your wallet address into the faucet to Get Testnet MON.

Step 2: Explore NFTs on Monad

Once you have received your testnet MON, continue scrolling down the page to the Spotlight section. At the time of writing, Monad is putting the Spotlight on NFTs.

Click See Mints on Magic Eden to be redirected to the Magic Eden page.

In the top right corner, you need to Log In.

We will be proceeding with the wallet we used to receive testnet MON. Click View all wallet. 

Now that your wallet is connected, you can explore the various Monad Testnet NFTs and select one that interests you.

Once you have chosen, you can proceed to buy the NFT.

Step 3: Build Your Fantasy Top Deck

At the time of writing, Fantasy Top is the trending activity. You can Play Now to be redirected to Fantasy Top.

Next, Register and Play for free.

You can choose to log in using a Google or X account. We will be connecting our X account. 

You will need to Authorize App for the app to access your X account.

After it’s connected, you can paste a referral code if you have any.

Then it’s time to Open your first pack. 

You can choose to click on any of the packs to open it. 

Once you have your cards, proceed to Save Deck.

Step 4: Make A Trade

Back on the Monad testnet homepage, scroll down until you see the trading section and Connect Wallet.

We will be connecting our Rabby wallet that has the testnet MON.

Choose one of the available assets to trade, input the MON amount, and Buy it. Then confirm the transaction in your wallet.

Step 5: Explore Monad

Monad already has quite a number of applications that users can explore. We highly encourage you to take the time to explore some of these apps and perform on-chain transactions. 

It is also likely that these apps will rotate to the Spotlight and Trending sections depending on user activity. Therefore, Steps 2 and 3 might look different depending on when you read this guide.

Conclusion

Monad is a fully EVM compatible decentralized Layer 1 blockchain platform that aims to improve the performance and scalability issues that many blockchains like Ethereum face. Developers can easily import apps built for Ethereum without needing to make changes which lets users enjoy the same apps and experiences. Monad is now running its testnet for interested users to familiarize themselves with the platform. 

This article is only for informational purposes and should not be taken as investment or financial advice. Always do your own research before connecting your wallet to any protocol, and note that following the above steps is no guarantee of receiving an airdrop.